BUTLER COUNTY REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE issued the following announcement on July 22.
In what federal prosecutors describe as the largest bribery scheme in state history, Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four other men are accused of taking $60 million in exchange for pushing through a controversial energy bailout bill that cost Ohioans more than $1 billion.
Householder faces a federal racketeering charge, alleging that he took $60 million in bribes from an unidentified Akron-based utility in exchange for getting House Bill 6 passed into law last year.U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Dave DeVillers called it the largest bribery and money laundering scheme ever perpetrated against the state of Ohio.
“These allegations are bribery, pure and simple,” he said. “This was quid pro quo. This was pay to play.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine hasn’t been implicated in the investigation, DeVillers said, but he declined to say if any other lawmakers were under investigation.
“Our state deserves to have an honest system of government that isn’t hijacked by greed or corruption,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Hoffman at a Tuesday news conference in Columbus.
FirstEnergy Corp. issued a statement Tuesday that said it had received subpoenas in connection with the investigation.
“We are reviewing the details of the investigation and we intend to fully cooperate,” the statement says.
DeWine and elected officials called on Householder to resign immediately. “This is a sad day for Ohio,” DeWine said in a written statement.
The two federal officials described the scheme as a “sophisticated criminal conspiracy” and a “shameful betrayal.”
Also charged with conspiracy to participate in racketeering are: Householder’s political strategist Jeff Longstreth; former Ohio GOP chairman Matt Borges, who formerly lobbied for Akron-based FirstEnergy Solutions; and lobbyists Neil Clark and Juan Cespedes. Generation Now, a 501(c)4 is also named in the criminal complaint.
The five men made their initial appearance in federal court before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Stephanie K. Bowman, who released them on bond with conditions. They did not enter pleas.
Attorney Karl Schneider, who represents Borges, said the allegations came as a surprise to his client.
Schneider said he has not yet read the 80-page court document, but said he will be “vigorously defending” Borges.
Original source here.
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